KTRK: Jessica Tata indicted on 4 felony murder charges

KTRK-TV (Channel 13) is reporting that a grand jury has indicted day care owner Jessica Tata on four felony murder charges. A fire broke out at Tata’s day care in February, killing four toddlers.

Tata remains jailed on charges related to the Feb. 24 fire that also injured three children. She fled to Nigeria after the fire and became an international fugitive for nearly a month.

Authorities believe the 23-year-old left all seven children in her care alone while she went shopping, and the fire was ignited by a stove-top burner that was left on.

Her efforts to have her $1.1 million bonds reduced were shot down Friday after a judge refused the request.

The denial came following a daylong court hearing in which a recording of the frantic 911 call Jessica Tata made after the Feb. 24 fire broke out and new details about how her family helped her flee the country before she was charged were made public for the first time.

In the 911 call, which authorities have refused to release to the media, Tata could be heard screaming, “My kids are dying. Please help me.” In the background of the call, several of the children who were in the day care could be heard crying, which prompted several family members of the victims who were in the courtroom to leave in tears.